WRI Analyzes Top 100 River Basins

River basins are an essential source of water for industry, agriculture, and people. But the world’s river basins are increasingly stressed, making headlines from California to Iran.

World Resources Institute (WRAI) analyzed the top 100 river basins by population and found 18 river basins that face the highest water stress, including the Colorado and Rio Grande (U.S.), Yellow River (China) and the Indus (Pakistan, China and India). These river basins withdraw more than 80% of their available water annually.

In a blog post—complete with a map and ranking chart—WRI's Andrew Maddocks and Paul Reig explain their findings. 

This analysis follows Aqueduct’s country water-stress rankings—released December 2013—that identified the top water risk hotspots worldwide. Both rankings were developed using WRI’s global water risk mapping platform, Aqueduct.

Source: Water Resources Institute